Car-fender.



PATEN'I'ED JULY 30, 190-7.

P. J. MoDONNELL.

GAR FENDER. APPLIOAA'IION FILED no.4. 1906.

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FRANCIS J. McDONNELL, OF NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed December 4, 1906. Serial No. 346,203.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS J. MCDONNELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and aresident of New Bedford, in the county of Bristol and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Gar-Fender, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion.

This invention relates to car fenders such as are adapted to be carriedat the front of a car to prevent persons from being run over.

The object of the invention is to produce a fender of simpleconstruction which will operate efficiently to catch the body on thetrack and move the same rearwardly. at the same time tipping downwardlyso as to hold the body in a place of safety.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in theclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of referenceindicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the forward portion of a car to which myinvention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a plan of the fender as viewed ina plane just beneath the car floor; in this view, the upper portion ofthe apron, to be described hereinafter, is removed; both Figs. 1 and 2represent the car fender in an extended position; and Fig. 3 is a sideelevation showing a guide which cooperates with the body of the fenderwhen in operation.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the forwardportion of the car to which the fender 2 is attached. In order tosupport the fender, hangers 3 are attached to the under side of thefloor just forward of the forward truck 4, as indicated. Substantiallyin alinement with these hangers 3, I .provide drop levers 5 which arepivotally supported at their rear extremities on brackets 6 which areattached to the under side of the floor to the rear of the truck. Attheir forward extremities, these drop levers are connected by atransverse bar 7, and this bar is supported on the under side of the carfloor by means of a plurality of springs 8 which are preferably ofhelical form, as indicated. Near the forward ends of these drop levers,a bracket 9 is provided, which presents a transverse bar 10 adapted tolimit the downward movement of the drop levers, as will be readilyunderstood.

Just to the rear of the bracket 9, I provide a drop frame 11 whichextends transversely of the car and is supported upon the drop levers5as indicated. This drop frame 11 extends downwardly at the sides so asto cooperate with the hangers 3 in supporting fender beams 12 which areadapted to slide through the hangers and drop frame. When in theirforward position, these beams 12 project well beyond the forward portionof the car body as indicated. At their forward extremities, a tiltingframe 13 is pivotally attached, the

same presenting side bars 14 attached to a main shaft 15;

The ends of this shaft 15 are mounted in the beams 12,

as indicated most clearly in Fig. 2. At its forward and rearextremities, the frame 13 is provided with transverse shafts 16 and 17respectively, and these shafts are provided with sprocket wheels 18about which endless chains 19 pass. These chains are connected bytrans-' verse rods 20, so that a continuous apron is formed disposed ina horizontal position forwardly of the car, and

which is adapted to support a body which may fall thereupon. Near theforward portion of the tilting frame 13, a driving shaft 21 is provided,which is also provided with sprocket wheels 22, as indicated in Fig. 1.These sprocket wheels are adapted to engage with the under side of theendless chains 19, as represented in Fig. 1. The ends of the shaft 21project beyond the sides of the tilting frame and are provided withwheels 23 which are adapted to run upon the rails 24.

The extremities of the rear shaft 17 project into guide channels orguide brackets 25 which are attached to the inner faces of the beams 12,as indicated. These guide brackets are curved upon an are having theaxis of the shaft 15 as acenter, and operate to limit the upand-downmovement of the rear portion of the frame. Just to the rear of thesebrackets 25, the beams 12 are connected by a transverse guard 26, andthis guard is adapted to prevent a body from passing over the rear endof the apron.

Arrangement is made for enabling the entire forward portion of thefender to be swung downwardly, at the will of the motorman. For thispurpose, a push-pin 27 is provided in the forward portion of the carfloor, and in a position to be easily reached by the motormans foot. Thelower end of this push-pin rests on the transverse bar 10. From thisarrangement, when the motorman presses the pin, the drop frame 11 ismoved down wardly, the drop levers 5 swinging about their fulcrums atthe rear as an axis of rotation. When the fender is swnug downwardly inthis manner, the wheels 23 are brought against the rails 24 andimmediately begin to rotate, by reason of their frictional contacttherewith.

In this way the sprocket wheels 22 operate to drive the chains 19, sothat the upper portion of the apron moves rearwardly. In this way, abody which has fallen upon the apron-will be carried toward the rear. Assoon as it has passed the axis of the shaft 15, the weight of the bodywill tilt the frame downwardly at the rear. This action of the tiltingframe raises the forward portion of the frame so that the wheels 23 arethrown out of touch with the rails 24. Evidently, when this takes place,the movement of the apron will cease. The construction of the guidebrackets .25 is such that the tilting frame will be sufficientlydepresssd at the rear to enable the body caught under the apron to rollrearwardly against the guard 26, where the body would lie in safetyuntil the car is stopped.

When the fender is in use, it will be carried in the extended positionshown in Fig. 1, and where the cars are adapted to run in eitherdirection, each end of the car would be equipped with a fender. Thefender not in use will be carried under the rear portion of the car. Thefenders may readily be slid inwardly so as to occupy the positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

- It should be understood that the forward edge of the tilting frame isquite near the track, so that if a body is struck, it falls upon theapron, whereupon the rearward movement of the apron carries the body tothe back of the tilting frame.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a car fender, in combination, hangers adapted to be attached tothe car body, fender beams supported by said hangers and projectingforwardly from the car, a tilting frame supported between said beams, anapron mounted on said tilting frame and adapted to be depressed at therear, means for limiting the downward movement of the rear portion ofsaid tilting frame, wheel's carried by the forward portion of saidtilting frame and adapted to be depressed to strike the rails, means fordriving said apron from said wheels, and means for depressing said beamsto bring said wheels upon the rails.

2. In a car fender, in combination, hangers adapted to be attached tothe car body, a drop frame disposed forwardly of said hangers, means fornormally holdingsaid drop frame in an elevated position, beams supportedon said hangers and said drop frame and extending forwardly of the carbody, a tilting frame mounted between said beams, an endless aproncarried by saidtilting frame, wheels carried by said tilting frame andadapted to engage the rails when said drop frame is depressed, means fordriving said apron from said wheels, a transverse shaft supporting saidtilting frame near the middle portion thereof, whereby a body passingrearwardly of said shaft may depress the rear portion of said tiltingframe, means whereby a depression of the rear portion of said tiltingframe may discontinue the driving of said apron, means for limiting thetilting of said tilting frame, and means for depressing said drop frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS J MCDONNELL. Witnesses:

\VILLIAM B. AMES, ANDREW J. A. TIERNAN.

